The holidays are a time of celebration and unity! We embrace our friends and family for smiling group photos and impromptu selfies. But holding our loved ones close can introduce a risk: head lice! These tiny crawlers travel from scalp to scalp to find new hosts. An entire family can find themselves infested after an evening of merry fun.Another way that lice can spread this season is by sharing a bed or personal items (like combs, brushes, or hats) during a sleep over. The togetherness of cousins and pals makes the holidays special, but it also can be a gamble!

Don’t let head lice ruin your child’s holidays. Here are some ways to prevent the spread of lice in this happy season:

If your children are attending a sleep over or party, do a scalp check to be sure they aren’t introducing lice to the party. Talk with other parents before the event and encourage them to do the same.

Have a talk with your kids about selfie safety. Explain to them that head-to-head contact can expose them to lice. Encourage them to keep their distance for photos.

Send your children to a sleepover with their own brush, comb, barrettes, and headbands. Make it clear that these aren’t for sharing, and they’re not to share anyone else’s personal items either.

Check your children’s scalps after a sleep over or holiday party. If they have been exposed to lice, it’s best to learn as soon as possible so they can get treatment right away.

It can be hard to resist coming in close for a photo. And sometimes kids are going to share hair brushes and hats; we just can’t prevent it! The tough truth is that sometimes these can result in the spread of head lice. Well don’t freak! Just come see us. Lice Knowing You is the most trusted and doctor-recommended lice remover in the Western USA.

Nothing is spookier than head lice! Creepy crawlies on your children’s scalp can turn a fun holiday into a nightmare. Here are some tips for preventing the spread of lice through costumes:

When you’re shopping for a costume, use caution. Before your kids try a hat, mask, wig, or hooded costume, check the item for lice. Just take a peek and be sure you don’t see any little dark dots or moving critters! If you do, notify the store right away so they can eliminate the problem.

If you’re really worried about lice in a must-have costume, bring it home and isolate it for a couple of days. Lice can only live without a host person for a day or so. Give potential lice time to die before wearing the the costume.

Discourage your children from swapping hats, masks, wigs, or hoods when trick or treating or at a party. The surest way to avoid lice is to stay in your own costume.

If you learn that your children have been trying on other kids’ hats, masks, or wigs, comb through their scalps to search for lice when they get home. The earlier you find the problem, the quicker you can get rid of it!

Don’t be upset, though, if your kid does come home from a Halloween party with head lice. It’s a common occurrence this time of year. Just come see us. Lice Knowing You is the most trusted and doctor-recommended lice remover in the Western USA. We’ll take those Halloween creepies away!

Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of moms quite like the threat of these creepy-crawly creatures. Just in time for back-to-school season, a super strain of resistant head lice is making its way into the scalps of kids in the majority of states across the country. But before you start scratching uncontrollably, there’s a bit of good news.

While these insidious pests have become impervious to pyrethroids and pyrethrins — the active ingredients in popular over-the-counter remedies (talk about survival of the grossest!) — new prescription treatments are reportedly more effective than ever.

This news comes just in time as 100 percent of lice tested in 42 out of 48 states had evolved to the point that treating them with those familiar remedies was far less effective in killing them.

Amesh A. Adalja, MD, FIDSA, FACP, a board-certified infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh, explains what’s going on and what parents can do to fight these critters.

“Over-the-counter treatments for head lice are based on pyrethrins and synthetic pyrethroids, compounds to which there has been increasing rates of resistance,” Adalja notes. “Prescription therapies, based on alternative compounds, are more effective in the face of this type of resistance.”

What does the doctor recommend? Ivermectin topical lotion, which has proven effective in treating these resistant strains and can be used in those above the age of 6 months.

But what if you’re a parent who doesn’t want to put chemicals on your child’s head to solve the problem? If you fall into that category, it’s good to know that places like Lice Knowing You, a lice removal service with eight clinics in four states, exist. Nancy Gordon, chief executive officer of the company, says while these resistant lice are getting a lot of attention lately, they’ve been around for at least a decade. Even in light of that, Gordon still advocates for a more natural treatment.

“Consumers should arm themselves with the professional lice comb and focus on the removal of every louse and nit,” she explains. “Once your lice problem is cured, focus on checking your kids once a week going forward. Our motto at Lice Knowing You is ‘once a week sneak a peek.’ If you’re checking your kids regularly, if they happen to catch a bug you can just remove it immediately. Lice are spread through head-to-head contact. It takes seven to 10 days for the eggs to hatch and nine to 12 days for the baby bags to turn into full adults capable of laying eggs. Trust me, if there was a magical way to get rid of head lice we’d all be jumping on the bandwagon.”

While there’s nothing fun about dealing with a lice problem, it’s good to know there are solutions out there and that vigilance is perhaps your best offense.

With rumors of “super lice” spreading across the nation as parasites continue to develop resistance to chemical treatment, many parents have turned to technology to get rid of these nasty creatures. The web is filled with tips on using hair dryers, curling irons and hair straighteners to kill lice. Heat machines are being marketed as effective lice eliminators.

Using heat instead of poison certainly appeals to parents as a healthier approach.

Who wants to massage poison into a child’s head and scalp? We work so hard to protect our kids from toxic substances. So why slather them with the stuff?

With lice developing resistance to toxins, parents are eager for a different solution.

Parents who have experienced (or read about) the failures of lice poisons know that shampoos and creams alone don’t eliminate lice. It’s understandable to be excited about an approach that sounds more modern and technologically advanced.

But heat is not the answer.

A study released in Pediatrics magazine showed that heat treatments do not kill all of the hatched and adult lice living on the scalp. Even the most effective heat product on the market only claims to kill 80% of hatched lice!

It takes work!

There’s no magic machine to make lice go away. The tried and true method of shampooing, combing, and manually removing lice and nits is still the only proven way to rid yourself of these itchy parasites. At Lice Knowing You, our certified lice removal experts remove ALL of the lice and their eggs in about 60 to 90 minutes. It’s not technology, it’s hard work. And we love doing it.

They’re crawling all over the internet and infesting the news: so-called “super lice” are threatening America’s kids… or are they?

Researchers at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville recently shared the results of a study showing that many head lice are resistant to the chemicals traditionally used to kill them. The media quickly escalated this news into a “super lice” scare. Headlines like “’Super Lice’ Outbreak Hits 25 States” (Fox News) have parents worried about an epidemic of six-legged monsters spreading across the nation.

The good news is that there’s no special strain of treatment-resistant lice that is moving from state to state. There’s nothing “super” about the lice that SIUE found. They’re the same head lice that we’ve been successfully eliminating for ages.

The bad news is that any sample taken in America will show that lice are developing a resistance to the chemicals typically used to destroy them. The study collected sample lice from 25 states. All of those samples showed resistance to the chemicals.

Don’t worry. We’ve got this. We’ve known about the resistance for years. In fact, we’ve designed our lice removal and prevention solutions with this in mind. No head lice are resistant to the guaranteed removal method we offer at Lice Knowing You.

We don’t rely on the chemicals used in the study. The researchers tested lice resistance to pyrethroids, the pesticides found in common removal treatments. At Lice Knowing You, we don’t use those chemicals. We’ve long known that they don’t work very well, and anyway we don’t want to put harsh poisons on your kids! Instead, we use only 100% safe and non-toxic products combined with careful manual removal of lice and their eggs (nits). The process is natural, it’s organic, and it works.

Trust us. The researchers who performed the SIUE study did! They asked us to provide samples and we were happy to help. It’s an important investigation into how pesticides are becoming less and less effective. We’re glad that science is catching up with what we’ve observed in our years of experience: poisonous chemicals are not an effective way to get rid of lice.

So don’t fret about “super lice.” They’re not coming to attack your children. The same old head lice are out there, being passed from kid to kid. And we’re here with our guaranteed solution. If you’d like to learn more, contact us.

Head lice across America raised their tiny arms in victory when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new guidelines for managing infestations. The AAP, who influences policy in school systems all over the country, described lice as merely a “nuisance” and stated that “no healthy child should be excluded from or miss school because of head lice.”

Like any parents who have endured a school outbreak of lice, we know just what a “nuisance” these parasites are. Sleepless nights and uncomfortable kids affect the well-being of the entire family. Children with sensitivities can be traumatized by the suffering that head lice cause. Infestations can go on for months of misery.

Head lice live on our scalps, drink our blood, lay their eggs on our bodies, and survive by spreading. They crawl onto clothing, hair accessories, and combs. They’re transferred when kids come into contact with one another during everyday play.

The solution that the AAP recommends is poison: permethrin, an insecticide that acts by destroying the nervous system. Most discerning parents have already eliminated poisonous insecticides and other chemicals from our kids’ lives. And now the AAP wants us to slather the stuff on their scalps?

Perhaps the most frustrating part is that it’s just plain bad advice. Keeping infested kids in school does spread lice. And treating with permethrin more often than not just doesn’t work. It doesn’t kill eggs, nor does it even effectively kill all of the juvenile or adult lice. What’s worse is that we’re creating superlice. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recognizes that lice develop resistance to the treatment, even further reducing its effectiveness.

After years of helping thousands of families win their battles against head lice, we at Lice Knowing You know what works: stopping a community-wide infestation requires careful and controlled manual lice and nit removal combined with community measures to reduce the spread of the parasites. Remove the lice, remove the eggs, and remove the opportunity for these nasty little creatures to transfer and thrive.

Waa Hoo! Kids everywhere are jumping for joy – school’s out for the summer and it’s time for fun to begin!

Many parents think that once school is over – head lice goes away. Well, that’s just not the case. Lice is a year-round problem and if preventative measures aren’t taken, lice will make an appearance in homes all over the Pacific Northwest.

Summer is a time to be care-free. It’s a time for vacations and summer camp – not wondering if you have head lice or panicking if you get it. That being said, we have one task for parents this summer: As you put sunscreen on your kids skin to prevent sun burns, spray a lice prevention spray on their hair to ensure that your kids remain lice free while at camp.

As always, the usual lice prevention tips always apply –

NEVER share hair accessories or hats, helmets, sweatshirts, towels, etc. (This one is particularly important if you send your kids to a baseball, football or horseback riding camp!)

Children should not hang towels or bags next to each other or place them in piles.

Have kids wear long hair in braids or ponytails and boys should keep their hair short.

Once a Week, Take a Peek. Spend 5 minutes, once a week, to check your child for head lice. All it takes is a quick comb of the hair to prevent a problem that could spread to your family and friends.

To help foster a proactive approach to lice prevention we’re offering a great deal for parents! Head to any Lice Knowing You clinic and have your child’s head checked before they head off to camp. While at the clinic, purchase a Camp Prevention Pak filled with some great prevention items that will last all summer long. Then, when summer is over, head back to Lice Knowing You for a FREE lice check.

Let’s stay ahead of the game and stop lice in their tracks before they start making a home on your head!

Recently a client welcomed family friends from another state into her home. These family friends had recently treated their daughter for lice but the mother had not been checked and did not care to use our services at Lice Knowing You. The friend stated that her daughter gets lice a few times a year – they get rid of it and move on. It’s not a big deal – it’s just another thing to deal with.

“Lice is just something we deal with”

This is unfortunately a very common phrase among many preschools, some schools and many families. Let me tell you – Lice isn’t something to just “deal with”. It’s a problem and can become an epidemic if not treated and/or prevented.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – lice is the second most common childhood affliction next to the common cold. 1 in 4 children in our country will have lice at some point during their school years. Lice can cause stress, parents have to miss work, kids miss school and, in some cases, lice can cause sores and bleeding on an infested scalp.

So I ask you — How is lice not a big deal?

Moving into the summer months – as children go away to camp, head to play-dates where they’re playing dress-up or sharing helmets – I urge you to help educate your friends, family and even your children about lice. Teach your kids not to share helmets, hats or brushes. If you’re sending your child to camp – make sure that they put their long hair in a pony tail or a braid. Don’t share pillows – and if kids are at a sleepover – keep hair up and away from other friends’ heads.

And as always, if you can – use some sort of lice prevention spray, shampoo and/or conditioner on the hair.

The air is getting warmer, the days are getting longer and the sun is shining brighter…what does all of this mean? Kids are playing outside, riding bikes and scooters, playing baseball – and sharing helmets and other sports accessories. Which also means – the spread of lice through your community. Begin preventative measures now to ensure that you remain lice free all summer long.